Living With Theistic Evolution as a Paradigm

Special Creation: wonderful, but it is a quick and easy way out. There are seldom easy ways out in life. The ramifications of special creation are very complicated themselves. Cf: the book of Romans in the New Testament. Lovely realities described in Paul's epistle to the Romans but very heavy going and not as simple as you would think. Paul, the author of the epistle had what would amount to a Ph.D. in philosophy today.

Non-theistic Evolution: mostly for agnostics, atheists and theists who like a good intellectual challenge or are dissatisfied with the other two approaches. Some, though not all, adherents suffer from a delusion of intellectual superiority, smugness, or self-righteous condescension to anyone not buying into the belief that only evolution is necessary. "Let's not waste any more time and lets proceed with other issues or intellectual challenges" is the practical approach they prefer when considering the Evolution vs. Special Creation debate.

Intelligent Design: very tempting, at least to those who see the complexity and the aesthetic excellence of flora and fauna which seems a tall order to leave to chance alone. Simple organisms and mostly ugly ones being the result of non-theistic evolution makes a lot of sense, but physiological complexity, sentience, intelligence and symmetry that is capable of visiting other worlds and potentially continue intelligent life on yet-to-be-colonized worlds beyond our Earth, almost demands that, if not God, then some other Intelligent Designer is responsible for the marvels we encounter daily on planet Earth.

Theistic Evolution: the main difficulty is that there was sin in the world before Adam and Eve were created if you prefer this paradigm. If sin already existed before Adam and Eve also succumbed as well*, then why would Christ Jesus have to die to appease God's wrath against sin or to vindicate God's Law and its permanence. It also presents a problem for observing the seventh-day Sabbath since living organisms are no longer created in seven days, but rather, during millions of years. Presents quite a problem for orthodox Jews, as well.

Fourth Paradigm: awaits discovery. Any valid approaches need to be included as they become available or discovered.

Practical Paradigm:

Don't hurt anyone or anything. After all, you yourself don't want to be hurt either.

Improve the chances of the survival of the human race whether on this Earth of ours and eventually on other worlds.

Enjoy your life to the fullest and assist others in the enjoyment of theirs. Your well-being is intricately connected to the well-being of others.

If you haven't become aware of this interconnectedness of humanity there is still time to catch on.

__________

* If sin existed on another world, as well, then it becomes less of a problem if there was already sin in the world before Adam and Eve existed. Of course, the Bible says that everything that God created was good so there's no accounting for how there were fossils already buried in the Earth of another cycle of life that had experienced death already. After all, the Bible says that the wages of sin is death.

Some solve this problem by referring to the rebellion against God by Lucifer and cohorts in heaven itself as being responsible for the death and sin that would then have existed on Earth prior to Adam and Eve's Special Creation in the isolated perfection of the Garden of Eden were another pair of perfect beings (morally and physiologically perfect) were given another chance. Sadly, they also did not pass the test.

This footnote has the potential of never ending as another angle quickly suggests itself.

[Needs stylistic refinements, grammatical processing, etc.]

Where Is God?

Only the mystery we call God can change the hell that can sometimes exist both in our mind or in the world that surrounds us. No other mystical power or force of science can change that permanently with  lasting effects in mind. Thank God for God. How truly alone we'd feel if He didn't exist. Without God the wonder that we call the universe would be a charade or a cruel joke. All this dazzling immensity and beauty created for no reason and easily destroyed--eventually after billions of years--meaninglessly, as well.

God must exist, you see. He just has to. Otherwise the quality and beauty of life is cheapened.

If--and this we cannot prove--God does not exist then we have to become our own all-loving, all-forgiving and all-comforting "God." [1]  Let us not even consider the quagmire of dealing with lower-case gods or beneficent forces of nature. We need God or the ideal implied by the word God, not just for each other's sake, or for our own sake. We also need God or the ideal of God ("God") for the benefit of the culmination of eons of evolution--pre-primate and primate--as well. Ultimately we need God if only to insure that our own health and survival as a species is assured for whatever fate or providence or some nameless and undefined Factor or Ideal has in store for us down the road. Without something larger than ourselves millions of years of human evolution lose whatever meaning artists and poets have attributed to the wonder of being human and being alive to enjoy that splendor and glory. [2]

Humanity really, then, is created in the image of God. We are carbon copies of our perfect and wonderful God. We need God, however, to let that wonder and perfection shine and grow. Not from within ourselves only but from a mysterious reality or force beyond ourselves. That mystery can only be called God. It truly can be said of us, His children, that "we are the light of the world."

______________

References:

1. It may not be necessary for some, but in the event that there is some confusion as to what I'm referring to when I speak of God (the deity of the Old and New Testament Bible) and "God" (the ideal of God or a conceptual God, if he were not to exist) this note may prove helpful. Again, it is not my intention nor concern at this time to address any interaction or use of a lower-case god. There are already too many lower-case gods in our  postmodern world.
2. Though probably used in a different context and possessing different meaning than what I've presented here, I am partially indebted to Jack Provonsha's "God is With Us" which I read at the age of 19. It still lingers in my mind though only vaguely. It was there that I first came upon the sometimes confusing uses of God and "God."

The Meaning of Everything

Galileo helped further the truth that the Earth revolves around the sun and not the sun around the Earth. Though it caused havoc for both Galileo and society we are better off with the knowledge.

Recently I'm reading more about M-Theory which suggests quite strongly that the universe is not just one but an infinite number. We live, M-Theory suggests, not in a Universe but as part of a Multiverse. The ramifications of M-Theory are too many to outline briefly but let me share some thoughts about how M-Theory relates to those who believe in One God.

With an infinite number of universes all created by one God how can we insist that ours is the only sinful world. What if in at least one percent of the infinite number of universes of the multiverse there was one world that also contains sinful beings in need of redemption. One percent of an infinite number is of course an infinite number, as well.

Where am I going with all this? Some will decide that the implications of this line of reasoning lead to agnosticism. Others will catalog it along with the centuries-old discovery that the sun does not revolve around the Earth. World culture survived such monumental discoveries. People of faith eventually followed suit. If both survived such discoveries once it will, no doubt, happen again.

God bless us, his children, who live on an even tinnier speck in one world among the infinite number of worlds of the Multiverse.

By the way, "Hyperspace" (the book that appears in the photo above) was written by Michio Kaku, a respected scientist and a favorite author, and is not science fiction. It is about cosmology, quantum physics, etc.

Consult also the following serious work by another favorite author:  “The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos” by Brian Greene, a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia.

Thank you.

Ultra Life and Its Pleasures

Schedule one hour every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. on your smart phone, iPhone or appointment book to experience UltraLife (no space). You are setting aside more than a conceptual hour where you decide what constitutes UltraLife for you, but it becomes more and more real as the UltraLife hour kicks in every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Why Wednesday? Wednesday, or Woden's (Odin's) day in Teutonic culture is Mercury's day in Romance Languages, e.g., Miercoles, Mercredi, etc. The  messenger god, Mercury, could not be a more proper day to deliver to you the joy of UltraLife. It is the mid-point of your weekly experience and you deserve a special day, if only a conceptual day that lasts 60 minutes. Oh but what joy can be experienced in those 60 minutes. They can seem like 1,440 if you delve deep enough into the luxuriant reality  that you have labeled UltraLife.

Why at 7:00 p.m.? Seven is a perfect and common number in world history. There are, of course, seven days. There are five major planets of the ancient world plus the sun and the moon. There is the concept of seven heavens, six days of creation and one of rest on the Seventh day. The number 666 is considered imperfect because it is one less than seven and using it three times compounds the imperfection.  777 would be, it follows, the most perfect and life-enhancing number one could choose.
Enjoy your weekly conceptual day of UltraLife. May it become the best "day" of the week for you.

The Perfect Gift - El Regalo Perfecto

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be an end to death, and to mourning and crying and pain, for the old order has passed away! The One … said, ‘I am making all things new!’” Revelation 21:4,5

The dawning of humanity’s new beginning will not happen as many expect. It will begin without precedence & be of surprising complexity & imagination. In some regards, the enhanced state of being has begun for some, perhaps for many. Some speak of it as something that will change humanity beyond its wildest dreams, but they think of it as an uncertain, distant reality, that will one day arrive. With inner vision comes the realization that humanity has no need to await the arrival of the Final Gift. The final & permanent gift has begun to make its influence felt in men and women, in boys and girls.

Why imagine that the One who is to change our world & us is years or centuries in arriving? The One is where we need Him (Her) most. The One is in our spirit, or if you prefer, inside the essential core of our being, our mind. Of course, we are not saying the One is in every one’s spirit (mind). That would cheapen the wonder & beauty of this most priceless gift. The One is not, nor can He (She) ever exist, inside those who feel no need or desire to be enhanced by the Final Gift, the inner dwelling of the Pure Essence of the Perfect One.

What do you have to do to receive this unparalleled Gift? Is it given to you as payment for years of effort? Is it given to some, but not to others? Or is it truly a Gift that is given if you are willing to desire both Giver & Gift?

Only one thing is required, if we may use such a problematic word. Daily, so that the both Gift & Giver are truly desired & appreciated, you must contemplate both Gift & Giver. Do this first thing in the morning, after you have wiped the sleep from your eyes, before the day’s many demands work their enticing magic to distance you from both Giver & Gift.

How do you actually contemplate such abstractions such as Gift & Giver? If you’ve no other place to go, or other source to consider, start & continue for as long as you wish, with the words at the beginning of this page.

“He (She) will wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be an end to death, and to mourning and crying and pain, for the old order has passed away! The One … said, ‘I am making all things new!’”

If you know of no other way to make these words powerful tools to enhance your life beyond what it presently is, then we offer this simple though effective method. This can be used with other life-enhancing words & texts that you find in your own tradition or in ours.

1. In the name of the Anointed One, the One who was, who is & who is to come, I ask that you wipe away every tear from my eyes. I ask that you put an end to death, and to mourning and crying and pain. I ask that the old order might pass away. I ask of you, Anointed One, that you make all things new.

2. I believe that you are wiping away every tear from my eyes. I believe that you are putting an end to death, and to mourning and crying and pain. I believe that the old order is passing away. I believe, Anointed One, that you are making all things new because you have said that you would in Revelation 21:4,5. Your word never fails. What you have said would happen, will come to pass.

3. I thank you, Anointed One, that you have wiped away every tear from my eyes. I thank you that you have put an end to death, and to mourning and crying and pain. I thank you that the old order has passed away. I thank you that you have made all things new. I know that this has happened already & will continue to happen, even though it may not appear that way to others or to myself, because you name stands behind these life-enhancing words. May this be my reality from now on.

One morning, or afternoon, or evening, you will be walking your dog or driving along a wooded street at sunset or early morning or by starlight, & you will suddenly realize that regardless of the reality right in front of you, or thousands of miles away, a new reality has, without warning, begun in your life. If you desire it enough & appreciate its arrival with as much anticipation as you give to some desirable, tangible goal or experience, then you will, in fact, receive the Perfect Gift, the Gift of Transcendence.

For more information, please visit us at: http://www.perfectfuturo.com/

Originally posted in the Design Your Future blog

“Secará todas las lágrimas de ellos, y ya no habrá muerte, ni llanto, ni lamento, ni dolor; porque todo lo que antes existía ha dejado de existir. El ... dijo: ‘Yo hago nuevas todas las cosas.’” El Apocalipsis 21:4,5

El nuevo amanecer de la humanidad no sucederá como muchos esperan. Comenzará sin anuncio y tendrá complejidad e imaginación que han de sorprender. Se puede decir que esta realización ha comenzado para algunos, quizás para muchos. Algunos hablan de ella como algo que cambiará la humanidad más allá de sus sueños más bellos, pero piensan en esta realización como algo incierto, una realidad distante, que un día llegará. Con la visión interna viene la realización que la humanidad no tiene ninguna necesidad de esperar la llegada del Regalo Final por la siguiente razón. El regalo final y permanente ya ha comenzado a percibirse en los hombres y mujeres, en los muchachos y muchachas.

¿Porqué imaginarse que aquel quién cambiará nuestro mundo y nosotros mismos tarda años o siglos en venir? Este Ser actualmente se encuentra donde más lo necesitamos. El (Ella) está en nuestro espíritu, o si usted prefiere, dentro de la base esencial de nuestro ser, nuestra mente. Por supuesto, no estamos diciendo que El (Ella) está en cada espíritu (mente). Eso degradaría la maravilla y la belleza de este regalo sin igual. El (Ella) no está, ni puede existir, dentro de los que no sientan ninguna necesidad, ni deseo, de ser transformados por el Regalo Final: la cohabitación de la esencia pura del Ser Perfecto.

¿Qué tiene que hacer uno para recibir este regalo sin par? ¿Se le dará como pago por años de mucho esfuerzo? Es dado a algunos, ¿pero no a otros? Usted recibirá este regalo si se desea ambos: el Ser que regala y el Regalo actual.

Se requiere solamente una cosa, si podemos utilizar este término problemático, “un requesito.” Diario, para que se deseen y aprecien el Regalo y el Donador verdaderamente, usted debe contemplar el Regalo y el Donador. Haga esto por la mañana, después de que usted haya limpiado el sueño de sus ojos, antes de que las muchas demandas del día pongan obstáculos entre usted y el Donador y su Regalo.

¿Cómo usted comtemplará, realmente, tales abstracciones como “Regalo” y “Donador?” Si usted no tiene otro sistema, u otra fuente a mano, use estas palabras siguientes y este método mientras que usted lodeseé.

“Secará todas las lágrimas de ellos, y ya no habrá muerte, ni llanto, ni lamento, ni dolor; porque todo lo que antes existía ha dejado de existir. El (Ella) ... dijo: ‘Yo hago nuevas todas las cosas.’”

Si usted no conoce actualmente de otra manera de utilizar estas palabras para servirle como herramientas potententes, de modo que su vida se transforme más allá de su actualidad presente, entonces ofrecemos este método eficaz y simple. Esto se puede utilizar con otras palabras vivificantes y textos de su propia tradición o de la nuestra.

1. En el nombre del Ser Unguido, el quién era, quién es y quién ha de ser, pido que usted seque todas mis lágrimas, y que no haya ya muerte, ni llanto, ni lamento, ni dolor; pido que todo lo que antes existía ya deje de existir. Le pido, o Ser Unguido, que haga nuevas todas las cosas.

2. Tengo fe que usted está secando todas mis lágrimas, y que la muerte muy pronto dejará de existir, ni llanto, ni lamento, ni dolor; sí creo que todo lo que antes existía deja de existir porque usted lo ha dicho en el Apocalipsis 21:4,5. Su palabra nunca falla. Lo que usted ha dicho sucederá.

3. Le doy gracias, Ser Unguido, que usted ha secado todas mis lágrimas, y que la muerte ha dejado de existir, también el llanto, también el lamento, también el dolor; le doy gracias que todo lo que antes existía ha dejado de existir. Le doy gracias , o Ser Unguido, que ha hecho nuevas todas las cosas. Sé que esto ha sucedido ya y continuará sucediendo, aunque no le parezca a otros o a mi mismo (misma,) porque usted es el Autor de estas palabras maravillosas y eso vale mucho. Pido que esta nueva realidad sea mi realidad preferida de ahora en adelante.

Una mañana, o tarde, o noche, usted estará, tal vez, caminando con su perro o conduciendo a lo largo de una calle junto a un bosque en una puesta de sol, o una mañana tranquila, o bajo luz de estrella, usted realizará repentinamente que sin importarle su realidad actual, o la realidad de millares de millas lejanas, un nuevo principio ha comenzado, sin anunciarse, en su vida. Si usted lo desea bastante y aprecia su llegada con tanta anticipación como usted dá a cierta meta o experiencia deseable, entonces usted, de veras, recibirá el Regalo Perfecto, el Regalo del Más Allá.

Para mas informacion, favor de visitarnos al http://www.perfectfuturo.com/

Originalmente fue publicado en el blog Diseñene Su Futuro

Space Ark Project Is No Longer Considered Science Fiction

EU space program wants to build a space ark for doomsday scenario. I was delighted to find this article and was surprised that such an important concern as the European Space agency has plans, perhaps even more than plans, to ensure humanity's survival in the event of some unknown, or imminent disaster.

In addition, last night on the CNN cable news network, in an interview with Larry King, world-renowned physicist, Stephen Hawking, expressed the importance of humanity settling on other worlds beyond Earth in case some cataclysm occurs, especially during the next 200 years. Of course, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov and other scientist-turned-writers devoted many serious works of fiction and non-fiction concerning this very endeavor. It would be a tragedy if humanity assumed arrogantly that God would never allow humanity to destroy itself. The possibility of humanity destroying itself is the ultimate manifestation in exercising its God-given free will. It is equally a major display of free will for humanity to exercise it's intellect in preserving itself from unknown catastrophes.

If organizations like the EU Space Program are concerned and are involved with such magnificent projects why shouldn't a multi-national corporation like the Adventists not be as equally concerned. Think of the wonderful possibilities of a Macrolife home world or a terraformed Jovian or Saturnine moon made possible by the financial and technological resources possessed by the Adventists.

To repeat a concept from an earlier post on the Northern Lord vs. Southern Lord blog, biblical patriarch Noah was not handed the ark handmade by God. Noah and sons had to build it themselves. Noah had to get inside the ark and, once it had settled atop Mount Ararat, he had to resettle in what was virtually a new world, one greatly transformed from the antediluvian one which he and his descendants had abandoned. He and his descendants then had to rebuild civilization from scratch with the accumulated knowledge of the antediluvians. It is equally important that modern humans be able to do the same concerning the civilization they know and love should it ever be threatened or destroyed by some unknown catastrophe, either man-made or natural.

A New Beginning: The Fourth Dimension and Adventist Futurism

The fourth dimension of the title is, of course, the dimension of time. Scientists will speak to you with the greatest of confidence that Time [Duration] really is an integral part and a compliment to the normal dimensions of Length, Breadth and Thickness. All four are often referred to as the Space-Time continuum. For a literary explanation regarding this enigma, please consult H.G. Wells' prescient explanation. [1] We digress not only to clear up the title, but to highlight one of the important principles of Adventist Futurism, that of time itself, especially future time. [2]

The very first article about Adventist Futurism appeared on January 17, 2007. [3] Approximately 39 articles or posts dealing in some way with the development of Adventist Futurism have appeared in the Northern Lord vs. Southern Lord [4] blog. One purpose of this new blog, Adventist Futurist, is to collect, organize and coordinate past, present and future articles regarding Adventist Futurism. Another reason for this new blog is to trace, when possible, the origins and influences of Adventist Futurism. In total there were 66 web sites or blogs that referred its readers to the Adventist Futurism Manifesto.

While there is no clear cut evidence that official Adventist media took any interest in the Manifesto there was one article published in the church's official flagship publication, Adventist Review, that cryptically alluded to Adventist Futurism in an article titled Some Problems with "Adventist" Futurism [5] by Angel Rodriguez, but left more unsaid that what it actually said judging from reactions to it on other Adventist sites which criticized the article for its vagueness.

Even though one of the intentions of Adventist Futurism is to attract the kind of individual that is seriously interested in futurology, futurism, science, aesthetics, ethics, space exploration, cybernetics, and several other forward-thinking and positive areas of study, let no one be hoodwinked about one thing. It is our sincere hope that you put aside any preconceived ideas or biases about the foundation without which Adventist Futurism would be meaningless. To quote from the article that launched the discovery of Adventist Futurism, "Christ Jesus, Lord and Savior, is as important as He ever was . . ." [6]

Since the first post was published, more than three years ago, there have been 545 visits from 363 cities in 60 countries. The principal countries visiting the Adventist Futurism Manifesto are the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Additionally three countries whose official language is other than English, France, Mexico and Belgium, also showed significant interest in the information in the post.

A total of 770 pages were visited by the individuals who chanced upon or were referred to the Adventist Futurism Manifesto. The average time spent on the page, in question, was two minutes and 45 seconds. Most people who found the Manifesto were referred by Google, Images.Google.com, Spectrummagazine.org, Progressiveadventism.com, and Adventist-forum.blogspot.com. Additionally, significant amounts of visitors were also referred by Yahoo and Blogger.com while others accessed the post in question directly.

References:

1. "There are really four dimensions, three which we call the three planes of Space, and a fourth, Time. There is, however, a tendency to draw an unreal distinction between the former three dimensions and the latter, because it happens that our consciousness moves intermittently in one direction along the latter from the beginning to the end of our lives." Wells, H.G.. The Time Machine, chapter 1. 1895
2. Adventist Futurism: Manifesto, Third Principle
3. Adventist Futurism: Manifesto
4. Northern Lord vs. Southern Lord Please refer to the Labels section in the blog in question for access to all 39 posts under the heading of Adventist Futurism.
5. Some Problems with "Adventist" Futurism
6. Adventist Futurism: Manifesto, Second Principle